Program

Rhythm on My Heels

The
film is 86 min. long and the concert (8 songs) will take approx. 30 min.Concert by Emil Viklicky and Greg Ritchie, Dan Loomis, Petr Cancura

Film: Rhythm
on My Heels

Josef
Škvorecky (born 1926) is a Czech writer and novelist living in Canada since
1968. For decades Josef Skvorecky taught at the University of Toronto as a
professor of literature.

His
novels and stories were translated to dozens of languages and he is the
recipient of numerous literary and civil awards including the prestige Governor
General’s Award and Order of Canada.

The
literary work of Josef Skvorecky has been inspiring TV and movie productions
for years. Rhythm on My Heels is a featured movie base on his book “The
Tenor Saxophonist’s Story” shot in Prague last year.

The
story takes place in Czechoslovakia in fifties and it is “a musical tragedy”
about love. Main character Danny is the alter ego of Josef Skvorecky himself.
Danny is passionate about beautiful girls and jazz,
but at the wrong time in a country where communist regime considers this music
be way too imperialistic for young people. Danny and his friends form a jazz
band and try to live a normal life in a strange world,
where one’s destiny is shaped by politics,
secret police and undercover agents who might as well be those beautiful girls.

This
movie received great reviews and was screened at many international film
festivals. Its screening in Toronto followed by a musical performance of
featured jazz songs, performed live
by the actors, is planed for the end
of May and we would like to dedicate it to Josef Skvorecky. Internationally
acclaimed jazzman Emil Viklicky, who
composed this movie’s scenic music and arranged all original songs, will play the piano.

This
movie not only introduces the work of your famous fellow citizen, but also presents the viewers with the
Eastern-Europeam reality of 1950s. Thanks to the beautiful jazz songs this film
is interesting for younger generations and most importantly for jazz lovers.

Josef Škvorecký
BiographyBorn 1924
in Náchod, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, he graduated in 1943 from the Reálné gymnasium in
his native town. As part of Josef Goebbel's Totaleinsatz scheme, he spent the next two years as a slave labourer in
a German aircraft factory.
After World War Two he studied at Charles
University in Prague,
and received his Ph.D. in philosophy in 1952. In 1952 - 1954 he served in the
Czechoslovak army, then held
editorial jobs in the Odeon Publishing House. His first novel, The Cowards,
written in 1948-49 was not published until 1958,
immediately condemned by the Communist party,
banned and seized by the police. According to many critics, this novel marks the beginning of the end of
socialist realism in Czech literature. Škvorecký then published several other
books and wrote scripts for feature films.
After the Soviet ambush in 1968 Škvorecký and his wife left for Canada where he continued writing novels, and taught in the Department of English, University
of Toronto until his
retirement in 1990.
In 1971 Škvorecký and his wife,
writer and actress Zdena Salivarová,
founded the Sixty-Eight Publishers,
Corp. which for over twenty years kept publishing banned Czech and Slovak
books. For this, the president of
post-Communist Czechoslovakia Václav Havel awarded them the Order of the White
Lion. In 1992 Škvorecvký was appointed to the Order of Canada.
Among his numerous literary awards,
the most important are the Neustadt International Prize for Literature (1980), the Canadian Governor General's Aaward for Best
Fiction (1984), the Czech Republic
State Prize for Literature (1999) and the Prize of the Comenius Pangea
Foundation “For Improvement of Human Affairs” (2001) which he received with the
Polish film director Andrzej Wajda.
Most of his books are awailable in English: the novels The Cowards, Miss Silver's Past,
The Republic of Whores, The Miracle
Game, The Swell Season, The Engineer of Human Souls,
The Bride of Texas, Dvorak in Love, The Tenor Saxophonist's Story, Two Murders in My Double Life, An Inexpliocable Story or The Narrative of Questus
Firmus Siculus, his selected short
stories When Eve Was Naked and the two short novels The Bass Saxophone and
Emöke. He also wrote four books of detective fiction featuring Lieutenant
Boruvka of the Prague Homicide Bureau :The Mournful Demeanor of Ltn. Boruvka, Sins for Father Knox,
The End of Ltn. Boruvka and The Return of Ltn. Boruvka.
His poetry, both published and
unpublished, has been brought out in
1999 as ...there's no remedy for this pain .
With his friend, the poet Jan
Zábrana, Škvorecký published three
more detective novels, Murder for
Luck, Murder by Proxy and Guaranteed
Murder and a novel for children Tanya and the Two Gunmen (not available in
English).
With his wife, the novelist Zdena
Salivarova he published (in Czech onlz,
so far) three crime novels, Brief
Encoounter, with Murder; Encounter
After Many Years, with Murder and
Encounter at the End of an Era, with
Murder.
Škvorecký also published several volumes of short stories; a selection of them
was published in English as When Eve Was Naked.
His non-fiction works include Talkin' Moscow Blues,
a book of essays on jazz, literature
and politics, an autobiography
Headed for the Blues, two books on
the Czech cinema, All the Bright
Young Men and Women and Jirí Menzel and the History of the "Closely
Watched Trains"
Škvorecký extensively wrote for films and television. The feature film The Tank
Battalion, adapted from his novel
The Republic of Whores, was the
first Czech film made not by the Barrandov State Studios but by a private
company, The Bonton Films; it was
the biggest box-office success since the fall of communism. Other features, written for Prague TV,
include Eine kleine Jazzmusik,
adapted from his story of the same name,The
Emöke Legend from a novella of the same name,
and a two-hour TV drama Poe and the Murder of a Beautiful Girl, based on the murder of Mary Rogers of New York
which Poe had used for his story "The Mystery of Marie Roget". Three
very successful TV serials were made from his stories: Sins for Father Knox, The Swell Season and Murders for Luck.
Josef Škvorecký and his wife Zdena Salivarová live in Toronto, Canada.

Emil
Viklickywas born November 23, 1948, in Olomouc,
Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), and started to play piano at a very
early age. His grandfather Victor Wiklitzky had brought a Hoffbauer concert
grand piano from Vienna as a wedding gift for his musically gifted bride. Emil
graduated from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics in 1971. While a
student, he devoted much time to playing jazz piano. In 1974, he was awarded the
prize for best soloist at the Czechoslovak Amateur Jazz Festival, and that same
year he joined Karel Velebny's SHQ ensemble. Emil was a prizewinner at the jazz
improvisation competition in Lyon in 1976, and his composition “Green Satin”
(Zeleny saten) earned him first prize in the music conservatory competition in
Monaco. Nine years later, his “Cacharel” won second prize in the same
competition.

In 1977 Emil was
awarded a four-year scholarship to study composition and arranging with Herb
Pomeroy at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. He then continued his
composition studies with Jarmo Sermila, George Crumb, and Vaclav Kucera. Since
his return to Prague he has been directing his own ensembles (primarily quartets
and quintets), composing and arranging music and—since the death of Karel
Velebny—working as director of the Summer Jazz Workshops in Frydlant. He has
also lectured at a similar workshop event in Glamorgan, Wales.

Between 1991 and 1995
Viklicky was President of the Czech Jazz Society, and since 1994 he has worked
with the Ad Lib Moravia ensemble, whose performances combine elements of
Moravian folk music, modern jazz, and contemporary music. In 1996 the ALM
ensemble undertook a highly successful concert tour of Mexico and the United
States.

As a pianist, Emil
often performs in international ensembles alongside musicians from the U.S. and
European countries. During 1983-89, he worked with the Lou Blackburn
International Quartet, the Benny Bailey Quintet, and American
multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson. He has made frequent appearances in
Finland (with the Finnczech Quartet and in particular with Jarmo Sermila) and
Norway (with the Czech-Norwegian Big Band and Harald Gundhus), and has performed
in the U.S., Japan, Mexico, Israel, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands (at the
North Sea Festival), and elsewhere. Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner wrote of
Emil that “It was a delightful surprise to see such first-class, top-of-the-line
jazz in Prague.”

As a composer and
pianist, Emil has become noted for his unique synthesis of the melodicism and
tonalities of Moravian folk song with modern jazz. As English critic Euan Dixon
wrote in 2005, “Emil Viklicky is one of those European jazz pianists who
successfully incorporated elements of his indigenous folk culture into
jazz.”

He also composes
straight-ahead modern jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works that utilize
certain elements of the New Music, and at times his music requires a combination
of classical and jazz performers.

In addition, Emil
composes incidental and film music and has produced scores for several
full-length feature films and television series. Throughout the 1990s he devoted
an increasing amount of time to the composition of contemporary classical music
for a variety of instrumental combinations ranging from small chamber ensembles
and electronic instruments to symphony orchestras and choruses. Viklicky’s work
has gained him a number of prestigious awards, including the 1991 Film and
Television Association prize for music for animated films, second prize at the
1994 Marimolin contemporary music competition in Boston (for “Tristana”), a 1996
Prague award for electroacoustic music (for “Paradise Park”), a 1996 Czech Music
Fund prize for use of folk music in art music, and first prize in a 2000
international OPERA composition competition in Prague (for the opera Phaedra).

Review
quotes:

“One of the best
contemporary pianists, Emil Viklicky’s soloing and comping, his touch, voicings
and intervals have a good deal in common with fleet, tasteful pianists like
Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Rowles and Bill Charlap.”Doug Ramsey, Jazz
Time (Dec. 2004)

“Combine elements of
Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson with a deep infusion of Moravian soul, and you
have Emil Viklicky, the patriarch of Czech jazz piano.”Jack Massarik,
Evening Standard, London (June 5, 2006)

“Emil Viklicky Trio has
the same collective energy as Esbjorn Svenson Trio, though without electronics
and rock input.”John Fordham,
Guardian, London (Sept. 13, 2006)“Viklicky himself is a
wonderfully lyrical yet robust pianist, his playing packed with dynamic and
textural subtleties.”Chris Parker,
London (Dec. 22, 1997)

“The program did have
its share of happy marriages. Emil Viklicky cloaked the writings of Vaclav Havel
in two distinctly different garments: a slinky, flirtatious raiment to accompany
an early work and a gray, bluesy fleece that provided a huddling place for a
prison letter afforded a witty reading by Mario Van Peebles.”David Sprague,
Variety (Oct. 29, 2004)

Greg
Ritchie:Since
moving to New York City
in 2003 Greg Ritchie has been touted as one of the city’s premiere young
drummers. As a sideman in high demand,
Greg has been been involved in countless musical settings in a wide variety of
music. He has performed with many of today’s finest jazz musicians including
Dave Liebman, Seamus Blake, Vic Juris and Donny McCaslin in addition to being
an integral member of rock, pop and
folk groups such as Clare and the Reasons & Zach Williams.He
currently resides in Brooklyn where he is busy touring,
performing, rehearsing and composing
for his own projects as well as ‘The Story’ (www.thestorymusic.com) which he co-leads.

Dan Loomis:
A new presence on the New York
jazz scene, Dan Loomis has already
become one the most in-demand bassists of his generation. Called “a
forceful and creative bass player” (Cadence) “double-teaming you with style and
substance” (All About Jazz), Dan has
created a stir with both his powerful bass playing and his vision as a
composer/bandleader. Dan has toured extensively through the US, Canada and Europe with his groups The Dan Loomis
Quartet (DLQ), The Wee Trio, Spoke,
and as a sideman, winning new
audiences and bringing enthusiastic praise from critics.

Petr
Cancura:
Multi-instrumentalist Petr Cancura is sought-after for his original voice and
unique blend of musical influences,
whether on saxophones or mandolin. Appearing on over 30 released albums, he has recorded and performed with
Grammy-nominated Danilo Perez, Grammy-nominated
Julian Lage, Bob Moses, Joe Morris,
Kathleen Edwards, Kenny Wollesen, Joe Maneri,
Cecil McBee and the Juno award-winning Mighty Popo among others.

Born in Czech Republic,
raised in Canada and
currently based in New York, Petr’s versatility and experience shines through
everything he does. Petr is also the Programing director of the Ottawa
International Jazz Festival, one of
the leading North American Jazz Festivals. The Petr Cancura Trio has been
featured on CBC Radio’s Signal, and
continues to tour internationally with acclaim. In 2004,
Cancura received an award to study at the prestigious New England Conservatory
in Boston, where completed the Masters program.

Today
Cancura continues to record and perform with artists from all over the world, with musical project spanning from jazz to world
and folk music. Petr’s current project called Down Home is jazz inspired by
original black & white photographs and the music of the deep south (Mississippi and Kentucky).
Other current projects are The Richie Barshay Group,
his own groups PeopleMusic, a
quartet with Polish marvel Jacek Kochan,
guitar legend Joe Morris, Brazilian
Country band NationBeat and the Grammy-nominated Danilo Perez Big Band.

Film will
be introduced by a film director Andrea Sedlackova,
and during a concert you will also see and hear Vojtech Dyk, Jan Meduna,
Berenika Kohoutova, Marika Soposka a
Margareta Hruza, who also played in
this tv-film.